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Articles by Donald B. Wilkerson
US Magistrate Judges on the Art of Settlement
Please login to Mondaq or sign up for our free news alerts to be able to register for this webinar. United States: US Magistrate Judges on the Art of Settlement In many district courts across the country, one of the principal duties of the magistrate judges is to conduct settlement conferences. Some conduct more than 100 such conferences a year; thousands over the course of a career. At JAMS, a deep bench of 35 retired magistrate judges put this experience to work for parties in dispute.
Opinion: Donald Wilkerson: Vaccine denial rooted in white privilege
By Donald Wilkerson On the same day that the Camera had yet another story about Boulder Councilwoman Mirabai Nagle and the City Council’s collective hand-wringing over white privilege, Section B of the paper reported an ongoing outbreak of whooping cough at Boulder High School (the same Boulder High where, according to a recent state report, only 74.9% of students are fully vaccinated, well below the 95% required for herd immunity).
Is Rent Control a Good Thing for Multifamily Properties?
IREM believes rent controls can interfere with a property’s ability to produce sufficient income and remain competitive. Donald B. Wilkerson | Oct 08, 2019 The issue of rent control is a sensitive one. It’s hard to make a stand for the importance of a free market undefined by governmental intrusion without sounding like a greedy landlord. But there is a place in that market for fair accommodation of housing that’s reasonably priced for all concerned.
How Long Will True Diversity Elude Commercial Real Estate?
Industry organizations, including IREM, are making strides, but more needs to be done. Donald B. Wilkerson | Sep 11, 2019 Diversity and inclusion should be the fabric of every commercial real estate organization. So says the Deloitte “2019 Commercial Real Estate Industry Outlook.” We’ve quoted that work before in this space, and with good reason. As the above reference can tell you, there is much to be gained from it.
Finding the Right PropTech is a Challenge for Property Managers
Getty Images IREM’s new tech expert James Scott, of MIT Real Estate Innovation Lab, believes there will eventually be the Microsoft equivalent of proptech. Donald B. Wilkerson | Jul 22, 2019 Blockchain. AI. Digital twin. The proliferation of property technology companies coming on line—upward of $12 billion annually—can make a building manager’s head spin. As homespun, pop-culture philosopher Dorothy Gale said in the Wizard of Oz: “I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” And frankly, we’re not.
Foreign Countries Start Legislating for Professional Property Management
Getty Images Mention the Balkans, and your first thoughts may be of hard-to-pronounce places, like Ljubljana. Serbia has its share with Vrnjačka Banja and Čačak. But this little country—it’s smaller than Indiana in square miles and only slightly larger in population (if you count Kosovo)—is making progress in the arena of property management. It joins a growing roster of foreign countries that have legislated the need for professional property management.
Sustainability Strategies Should Be Top of Mind for Building Managers
Not many people connect building management with healthy environments. That should change. Donald B. Wilkerson | May 14, 2019 Over the years, the concept of sustainability has endured a number of transformations. In its infancy, it was all about the building envelope. We watched it grow through the green movement, which largely focused on products and procedures to save the planet, to encompass much more global—and personal—concerns, such as wellness and fitness.
Commercial Real Estate Still Struggles with the Talent Deficit. What Solutions Are Available?
Rawpixel/iStock/Getty Images A recent report from consulting firm Deloitte looks at some ways to increase the talent pool for CRE positions. Donald B. Wilkerson | Mar 29, 2019 It’s tough sometimes to see ourselves as others see us. But that’s exactly what happens every year when Deloitte issues its Commercial Real Estate Outlook, this year polling some 500 global investors on their views of everything from technology to talent.
How the CRE Industry Can Rise to the Potential Challenge of a Government Shutdown 2.0
For those keeping score, we had just passed the one-month mark in the so-called partial government shutdown when a cease-fire was called across political lines. At this writing, it’s being termed a temporary move, which implies that in short order, we’ll be hearing canon fire once again from inside the Beltway. Think: “Government Shutdown 2.0.” Or, the two warring factions could once again fool us, and we will have achieved an uneasy peace. For now, let’s hope for the best, but assume the worst.
Property Managers Have No Cause to Worry About a Downturn
Most of the factors that made the last real estate downturn so bad are not in play today. Donald B. Wilkerson | Dec 20, 2018 Those of you who know me well know that I’m a glass-half-full kind of guy. I find it interesting then when I hear concerns over a possible correction coming in 2019.
Vigilance, Not Just Systems, Is Key to Adequate Cybersecurity in CRE
Don’t look now, but someone’s watching. We don’t know them, and worse, we can’t see them. Sound a touch paranoid? Well, it gets worse. There are few protections against their intrusions that they can’t breach. Of course, I’m talking about computer hackers.
Has the Property Management Industry Prepared the Next Generation for Succession?
Sponsored by IREM - Institute of Real Estate Management Much has been written—even in this space—about the dire nature of succession in the real estate community and the aging of practitioners in virtually all disciplines related to the built environment. To hear some pundits, it would seem that the graying of commercial and residential real estate is not only at hand, but is so far advanced that in a few years, there will be no one left to switch on the lights.
Property Managers Need to Prepare for Natural Disasters
I guess it’s a part of human nature that people tend to be self-congratulatory. We look at all the advancements we’ve made (consider technology and industry alone), and our mastery of the world is clear—and clearly the reason for boasting. That is, until Nature decides to show us how tenuous that control over our environment is. In the blink of an eye, the comforts to which we’ve grown accustomed can be literally washed or blown away, plunging us all into a primitive darkness.
Property managers need to collaborate for the industry to succeed.
There is much talk these days from corporate office occupiers and those who provide spaces for them—including property managers—about collaboration. It is as if the concept is fresh out of its box, though the reality is that collaboration has been a vital tool of productivity long before it took a center-stage spotlight.
Has the Property Management Industry Prepared the Next Generation for Succession?
Much has been written—even in this space—about the dire nature of succession in the real estate community and the aging of practitioners in virtually all disciplines related to the built environment. To hear some pundits, it would seem that the graying of commercial and residential real estate is not only at hand, but is so far advanced that in a few years, there will be no one left to switch on the lights.
What Property Managers Should Know About Market Performance
It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day routine of putting out fires. But as all-encompassing as that might be, fires are only part, and in a sense, the least impactful part, of a professional property manager’s role. Of course, we have to address the needs of our tenants in a timely and professional manner. But we also have to respond—rather proactively provide answers—to our ownership clients.
Straight Talk About Pot Shops
The May/June issue of the Journal of Property Management was themed “Risky Business,” an appropriate placement for writer Joseph Dobrian’s cautionary report on the challenges of harboring a legal marijuana emporium in your property. He tells the tale of Robert S. Griswold, CPM, and his three years of agita-inducing struggles with a medical marijuana store in a West Hollywood, Calif. property he managed. I won’t reveal the ending, no spoiler alert here.
A Clear Vision for the ‘Swamp’
There’s one clear message emanating from inside the Beltway and that is: few things are clear. It matters little what side of the aisle you lean toward, which papers you read or which nightly commentators you tune in to. The overwhelming message is one of dysfunction. At the risk of sounding a little too pessimistic, there seems to be little leadership in our governmental leadership.
Research Illustrates Four Types of Asset Management
Much has been written in this space about the working relationship between asset and property managers. That conversation took major strides recently as the Institute of Real Estate Management hosted its third annual Commercial Summit at the Peninsula Hotel in Manhattan. That forward movement came in the form of a question: What steps can property and asset managers take to better understand the challenges and needs each side deals with?
Fair Housing-Done Right-Is a Complex, Nuanced Practice
We are a celebratory nation. We throw parties for everything from the major milestones in our lives—our weddings and births—to the Super Bowl games. There is even a website that tells you what National Day it is. (As I write this, it happens to be National Banana Bread Day. Seriously.) There is a much more serious and more important milestone occurring this year, one that would even overshadow (dare I say it?) the Super Bowl, and yet is so easily overlooked.
Rebranding Must Serve a Larger Mission
Corporate rebranding is a trend that is all the rage today. New logos and reworked corporate names are springing up nationally as marketers and decision-makers attempt to dress their companies or organizations in a new and more modern style. As a recent article in Forbes put it, the new emphasis on the corporate brand is a nod to “the increasingly transparent and accessible world driven by social media.” But that is not to say that corporate rebranding is a new trend.
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